''Finn and Gráinne'' is a short, probably
Middle Irish
Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Engl ...
anecdote of the
Finn Cycle about
Finn mac Cumaill and his wooing of and eventual divorce from
Gráinne
Gráinne (), sometimes anglicised Grania, is the daughter of king Cormac mac Airt in the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology. She is one of the central figures in the Middle Irish text ''Finn and Gráinne'', as well as the 17th-century tale '' The ...
, daughter of King
Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt, also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings ...
.
Date and provenance
The text is preserved uniquely in the
Great Book of Lecan
The (Great) Book of Lecan (Irish: ''Leabhar (Mór) Leacáin'') (RIA, MS 23 P 2) is a medieval Irish manuscript written between 1397 and 1418 in Castle Forbes, Lecan (Lackan, Leckan; Irish ''Leacán''), in the territory of Tír Fhíacrach, nea ...
(
RIA
A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
Definitions
Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
), ff. 181a, 2. Although the spelling has been modernised, the text is thought to be very much earlier than the 14th/15th century, when the manuscript was compiled. Meyer suggests that the text was originally written in 10th or even the 9th century, while Gerard Murphy posits a somewhat later date, in the 11th or 10th century.
[Murphy, ''Duanaire Finn'', p. lix.]
Synopsis
The story begins to relate how Finn úa Báiscni courts Gráinne, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt. Intending to shake off the warrior, whom she seriously dislikes, she comes up with a seemingly impossible demand as her bridal gift: "a couple of every wild animal that was in Ireland to be brought in one drove, until they were on the rampart of Tara". However,
Cáilte the "swift-footed" (''coslúath''), Finn's loyal companion, carries out the task for Finn and so Cormac has to give his daughter Gráinne in marriage to Finn. Gráinne detests her husband and the marriage proves to be an unhappy disaster. One time when the Feast of Tara is celebrated, with all the men of Ireland and the ''
fiana'' present, Cormac observes the sad expression on his daughter's face. She whispers to him how the hatred for her husband has made her physically ill, thickening her blood and swelling her sinews. Overhearing Cormac's reaction to the sad news, Finn becomes aware of Gráinne's plight and announces their separation. The text ends with a number of difficult legal ''roscada'' exchanged between Cormac and Finn on the subject of divorce.
A sequel to the story of Gráinne's divorce is ''Tochmarc Ailbe'' ("The Wooing of Ailbe"), in which Finn comes to an arrangement with Cormac to marry one of his other daughters and chooses Ailbe. In the 17th-century ''
Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne'', Gráinne elopes with another lover.
Notes
Sources
*Corthals, Johan. "Die Trennung von Finn und Gráinne." ''
Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie
The ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was established in 1897 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern.Busse, Peter E. "''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie''." In ''Ce ...
'' 49-50 (1997): 71–91.
*Meyer, Kuno (intro, ed. and tr.). ''Fíanaigecht, being a Collection of Hitherto Unedited Irish Poems and Tales Relating to Finn and his Fiana, with an English Translation''. Todd Lecture Series 16. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1910.
*Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.). "Finn and Grainne." ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' 1 (1897): 458–61
Editionan
available from CELT.
*Murphy, Gerard. ''Duanaire Finn''. 3 vols: vol. 3. Dublin, 1953.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn and Grainne
Fenian Cycle